Patrona Bavariae

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The bronze sculpture of the "Patrona Boiariae" on the west facade of the Munich Residenz ( Residenzstrasse )
Postage stamp from 1920

With the name Patrona Bavariae ( Latin for: Patroness of Bavaria ), the Mother of God Maria is venerated as the patron saint of Bavaria . While an intense veneration of Mary has been known in Bavaria since the earliest times, the formal recognition of Mary as the patroness of Bavaria was only given by Pope Benedict XV. Pronounced in 1916.

Early devotion to Mary in Bavaria

The earliest known St. Mary's Church in Bavaria is a predecessor of the Freising Cathedral . It already existed in 724 when Saint Korbinian came to Freising. It is dedicated to the feast of the birth of the Virgin Mary on September 8th. This church became the cathedral church of the diocese of Freising, founded in 739 . The veneration of Mary in Bavaria led to many churches and pilgrimage sites consecrated to Mary in the Middle Ages, e.g. B. Ettal Abbey , Maria Thalheim (today in Fraunberg ) and Altötting .

Furthermore, the cathedrals of Augsburg (Visitation of the Virgin Mary) and Eichstätt (Assumption of Mary) of St. Consecrated to Mother of God and the Patrona Bavariae.

Bronze statue at the residence

The veneration of Mary as Patrona Bavariae was introduced especially by Elector Maximilian I - unofficially it is likely to be significantly older. In 1610 he had a coin minted showing Maria as the patron saint of Munich . During this time, Catholic devotion to Mary was increasingly used as a distinguishing feature between Catholicism and Protestantism.

In 1616 (date MDCXVI on the architrave ) - in the immediate run-up to the Thirty Years' War - the elector had the bronze statue of the Virgin Mary "Patrona Boiariae" erected on the west side of the Munich residence, which was cast by Bartolomäus Wenglein based on a design by Hans Krumpper in 1615 had been. The Mother of God stands with her right foot on the crescent moon. The scepter in her left hand and a high crown identify Mary as Queen of Heaven . She holds the Christ child in her right hand. With his left hand he embraces the cross-decorated cosmos sphere as a sign of his rule over space. The head of the Mother of God is surrounded by twelve stars (symbol of the twelve tribes of Israel ). An Eternal Light burns in a bronze lantern adorned with angels under the statue . The Latin inscription on the cartouche held by children's angels above the gable niche reads: “ Sub tuum praesidium confugimus, sub quo secure laetique degimus” (“We flee under your protection, in which we live safely and happily”). This representation of Mary is very old and goes back to a passage in the Revelation of John ( Revelation 12,1  EU ). During the Second World War , the sculpture was buried under the imperial staircase of the residence . When the vaults of the Theatinergang of the residence collapsed on April 26, 1944, the facade of the residence on Odeonsplatz was carried away up to the ceiling of the ground floor. The niche of the Patrona Boiariae lost its gable roof and the associated cartridge and was also badly damaged. On July 26, 1945, the sculpture was excavated from the filled-in vaults near the imperial staircase of the residence. In the course of the war-related emergency salvage, the ruler's insignia (crown, scepter, orb ) and the star wreath of the figure were lost, which were then refilled from the bronze of a melted-down Nazi memorial.

Marian column

Our Lady statue on the Marian column

During the Thirty Years' War, Elector Maximilian I made the vow to have a "godly work" erected if Munich and Landshut were spared from the war. After both cities were spared in the war, Maximilian had the Marian Column built from Adnet marble on Munich's Marienplatz in 1638 . The Marian Column was consecrated on November 7, 1638, the first Sunday after All Saints' Day , by the Freising Bishop Veit Adam von Gepeckh .

It is not known who designed the column; but it should have been one of the most important artists of the time. It is often attributed to Hubert Gerhard . The Marian column is crowned by a gilded bronze statue of the Virgin Mary, which was presumably created by Hubert Gerhard in 1593 for the grave of Wilhelm V and used until 1613 for the high altar of the Frauenkirche in Munich . The statue of Mary is similar to the bronze statue at the residence - Mary stands on the crescent moon, she is crowned and holds the blessing Christ Child in her left hand and a scepter in her right. After this statue, the most important square in Munich city center was also named Marienplatz .

The Munich Marian Column was considered the center of the country and is the metric zero point for the odometer counting of all roads leading into the surrounding area.

Marian festival on May 14th or 1st

Foundation picture in the church Maria Schutz (Pasing) in memory of the subordination of Bavaria to the patronage of Mary by Pope Benedict XV. at the request of King Ludwig III. down

The Bavarian King Ludwig III. turned to Pope Benedict XV during the First World War . with the request that the Holy See also declare the Virgin and Mother of God to be the patron saint of Bavaria and allow a Bavarian festival of Mary. Pope Benedict granted both requests on April 26, 1916 and on May 14 of the same year the festival was celebrated for the first time in Munich; from 1917 then in all Bavarian dioceses. The date in use today, May 1st, was introduced by the Freising Bishops' Conference in 1970.

Worship today

The "Patrona Bavariae" - especially the Marian column - is still venerated today. Every Saturday the rosary is prayed at the Marian column in Munich and processions take place.

Outside of Munich, too, Maria is venerated as the Bavarian patroness in Catholic areas. There are innumerable churches and chapels consecrated to her. The depiction of Mary with the above-mentioned attributes - crescent moon, scepter, crown and star wreath - and with the Christ child in the left hand is also frequently seen.

In 1988 the Original Naabtal Duo achieved one of the greatest sales successes in the history of German folk pop music with the song "Patrona Bavariae". The text combines the heartache of a Bavarian with the invocation of Mary as Patrona Bavariae. The media presence and popularity of the song was surprisingly so great that the popular hit on the German music market is ascribed to it.

In preparation for the anniversary “100 years Patrona Bavariae”, the Bavarian dioceses organized a seven-year series under the motto “With Maria on the way” with the goals of Altötting (Diocese of Passau, 2011, Gnadenkapelle ), Vierzehnheiligen (Archbishopric Bamberg, 2012, Basilica Vierzehnheiligen ), Bogen (Diocese of Regensburg, 2013, Pilgrimage Church of Bogenberg ), Retzbach (Diocese of Würzburg, 2014, Maria im Grünen Tal ), Augsburg (Diocese of Augsburg, 2015, Maria Looser of the Knot ), Eichstätt (Diocese of Eichstätt, 2016, Residenzplatz ) and Munich (Archdiocese Munich and Freising, 2017, Frauenkirche and Marian column ).

Maria Patrona Bavariae chapels / small houses of worship

See also

Literature and web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kurt Faltlhauser (Ed.): The Munich Residence, History - Destruction - Reconstruction, with contributions by Johannes Erichsen, Sabine Heym, Otto Meitinger, Hermann Neumann, Amanda Ramm, Uwe Gerd Schatz and Tino Walz. 1st edition 2006, 2nd edition, Ostfildern 2011, pp. 154, 175 and 179.
  2. ^ Website of the Archdiocese of Munich-Freising for the Patrona Bavariae festival
  3. ↑ 100 years Patrona Bavariae ( Memento from May 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) - (Cardinal Reinhard Marx, accessed on May 16, 2015)